CoitThe woods feel like home as much as the house. I’ve spent equally as much of my childhood out there climbing trees and exploring nature to my heart’s content. Camping out here had been a regular event when Emory and I were kids. Our father would stay up late with us and teach us about the stars
Her eyes widen slightly, and she smiles. It reminds me of the dawn after a long night.“That’s good,” she replies. “Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”I take her arms away from my neck so I can get down on one knee. She freezes in shock. I pull the right out of the pocket of my p
CoitThat weekend blurs together in a hazy dream. I can’t stop touching Lydia. We spend hours having sex and sharing stories in between. The stories range from funny and silly to sad and sincere.This isn’t just having another body to get lost in. I’m getting to know Lydia and all her little quirks.
EmoryNews of Coit’s engagement has my mother buzzing like an overexcited bee. Not only is it the wedding of her only son, but she gets to help plan the event. Mom really does enjoy planning parties, and she’s good at it.I’m less passionate about event planning than her. Planning the Moon Goddess B
EmoryThe drive to Moon Grove feels longer than ever even though Rainer is driving as fast as he can without putting our lives in danger. Willow is seated on the passenger side, and she doesn’t chide him for driving so fast. Kane has not let go of my head since I told him what happened to Lydia. He’
LydiaMy head hurts. A pounding at my temple makes me wince as I try to open my eyes. I’m lying on something hard and cold. Nausea has me swallowing back bile in an attempt not to puke.It takes me a second to realize it’s not the headache that’s causing the nausea. I’m in a moving vehicle. I force
WillowWhile we are at Moon Grove, I try to cast a locator spell on Lydia to pinpoint where she’s been taken. Emory talks to her brother and manages to get a personal item of Lydia’s from him. She accidentally left behind her hairbrush from when she was here over the weekend. There’s a large map on
RainerWillow and I have visited Ivy regularly over the years. While Willow’s relationship with the rest of the coven is strained due to the century of bloody history between vampires and witches, Ivy is the last of Willow’s family in the coven. She is the great-granddaughter of Willow’s younger sis
MichaelI can count on one hand how many times I’ve been in this cathedral over the course of my short life. The dark stone walls echo even the smallest whisper, and the ancient stained glass sends shadows instead of snowy sunlight into the cavernous space. I wouldn’t consider vampires a very relig
FayeIt’s snowing on my wedding day. Snowing hard, actually, as I watch cars pulling around the castle where valets are waiting to greet the guests. The wedding will take place in an hour. An hour. I can’t believe it. My stomach pitches as two maids pull curlers from my hair and dab blush on my che
EmeldaQueen Emory smiles at the spread of vampire-friendly food laid out on a tea-table. Blood pastries and cakes galore sit on pretty little trays adorned with flowers, flutes of blood made to sparkle resting beside them. “Are you not hungry?” she asks as I inspect the spread over the sound of Al
MichaelI don’t really want to be here, but my mother and my fiancee practically forced me out of the castle and locked the door behind me. The dingy, crowded tavern some thirty miles away from the castle seems to sway against the crowd of shifters and vampires alike, everyone drinking copious amou
FayeIt’s snowing again. White fluff falls from the dark sky, highlighted by the exterior sconces placed along the walls of the castle. I smile as it blankets the ground, sticking to every surface it touches. I never really thought about the logistics of my future wedding. A marriage? Sure. My even
MichaelI stare at my soon-to-be bride, who looks up at me like a little golden owl, her blue eyes wide and shocked as she takes in my level of disheveledness. But I’m looking at her bloody finger, the bowl of liquid on the table, and the two guilty-looking ex-witches standing on either side of Fay
“He told me he thought you might have been pregnant the night we were going to give you that final potion,” she whispers, meeting my eyes. “I told him it couldn’t be. It was far too early to tell and the herbs I’d been giving you to try to heal you would have been harmful for the baby.”We stare at
FayeMorning comes like sand falling through an hourglass. All night, time moved so slowly. Each second passed in agony as I waited and paced, hoping for any shred of news from Michael. I’ve spent the most time in the living room sitting in awkward discomfort between Cole and Emelda, who refuse to
MichaelAlpha Harold watches as I sink into an armchair across from the raging fire in the hearth. He holds me a glass of whiskey, his eyes holding mine for a second before he turns to settle on a stool beside his mate. I find this entire situation–this man, this pack–alarming. “How long have you